Lighthouse Lover Bails Out Tour
By Sue Clark on Jun 30, 2009 in The Light Side 
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So let’s say that you, along with fourteen others, have paid your money (a year in advance) to a tour organizer for a seven lighthouse dream trip to the Orkney Islands, and are anticipating it with all the enthusiasm of a dedicated pharologist. But then the unthinkable happens, and six months later the organizer backs out. What do you do?
Well, if you’re Richard Evans, of Ashurst Wood, Sussex, UK, you take it upon yourself to take responsibility for the group tour. Even if you haven’t a clue about what you’re doing. But apparently Mr. Evans managed just fine, after a few moments of panic. “It was a strength of challenge to say the least, but when you get into these things you just have to keep going,” he said.
The group featured people from all over the UK and others from as far as Holland and Germany. All are members of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, an international group based in the UK. “It fulfilled dreams for me and others in the group, some who had travelled from Holland and Germany to meet up in Orkney, which is made up of over 70 islands,” he said. “Wherever we went by boat, including some remote rock stations, the right weather and tides played a vital part in accessing the lighthouses.”
Sounds to me like Mr. Evans played his own vital part in fulfilling the dreams of lighthouse lovers. Well done, old chap!
Original story at East Grinstead Courier and Observer.
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October 31st, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Hi Sue, I have recently become a member and wonder to myself why it has taken so long. Richard has been very helpful to me so it comes as no surprise that he done his Sir Walter Raleigh bit,its just a pity that there was not a former local keeper available on the trip to act as guide. I served with quite a few Orcadians. My knowledge would have been a bit scarce though, having only served at Sule Skerry, then the most remote lighthouse in Britain.